Monthly Archives March 2008

I’m so excited to share the news that David Ziser’s Live On Location class for Wedding Photographers, called “15 ways to make Your On-Camera Flash Take Better Photos” is now up live at KelbyTraining.com. I’ve been to David’s pre-conference on-location wedding shoot workshop at Photoshop World, and I can tell you first-hand that David is not only a world class photographer, but an absolute world class instructor as well, and he shares what he’s learned with the heart of a true teacher.

If you’ve always wanted to take a class with David, well…now’s your chance (this is just the first class, of five that David has taped for us live on location). Here’s the link David’s Class at KelbyTraining.com.

Dave Cross has been out on the road with his new tour, and one of his attendees posted photos and a full review of his day at Dave’s “Maximum Photoshop CS3 Tour” in Richmond, VA earlier this week. Here’s the link to the review and photos. (NOTE: Dave’s in LA next week, on the 25th, so don’t miss it!).

Not only are people talking about the cover design for my buddy Matt Kloskowski’sLayers book cover (designed by the amazing Jessica Maldonado), somebody is actually showing you how she does it. We found a tutorial on YouTube.com where this guy is showing his version of how she built the cover. Here’s the link to his “Jessica Cover” tutorial.

I’ve had so many people emailing me about the EL-Skyportwireless flash triggers I mentioned here last week during “Lighting Gear Week,” that I thought I’d pull this video clip, which aired on last week’s episode of Photoshop User TV where we had Mark Astmann from Bogen Imaging (the US Elinchrom distributor), on the show to show how the Skyports work (I do a live demo with Mark, and RC Concepcion is there with me doing the shooting), and you see it all right there live on the set.

It’s a short clip, so just click on the video below to give it a look. I think you’ll be impressed (at the Skyports, not with me and RC).

Nikon has just recently launched a complete redesign of their Nikon USA web site, (shown above) and I have to say; it’s pretty stunning. They’ve done a very clever job of making “the image” the focus of the home page, and the site is packed with both beautiful photography, and loads of info on everything Nikon. Overall, I think the site redesign is a big improvement, and it’s much easier to get to the info you want quickly, and it just looks so much better (I can’t think of a better way to say it than that). Here’s the link (and make sure you click on the little floating EXIF and Info window on the top right. Very cleverly done).

Photoshop author and trainer Sean Duggan (co author of the book “The Creative Digital Darkroom” with Katrin Eismann) is teaching a number of short classes this April in Hawaii (poor guy) at the University of Hawaii. His classes are: (1) Selections & Masking in Photoshop CS, (2) Creative Collage with Photoshop CS3, and (3) Camera Raw Workflow. Click here for more info on those classes. After that, Sean is teaching a weekend class called “Photoshop for Photographers: The Basics” at Stephen Johnson’s Photography Studio in Pacifica, California, on May 3-4, 2008. Here’s the link to info on that weekend workshop.

This might be interesting; there’s a new utility called “Preview Extractor” that lets you extract the full-sized JPEG preview image from Raw photos taken with Nikon digital cameras. I haven’t tried it, and I haven’t heard much more than it’s available. Here’s the link, but if you’ve tried it, or know someone that has, let me know.

Photoshop Hall of Famer Eddie Tapp is our guest on this week’s episode of Photoshop User TV, and Eddie shows how to get a “Softar filter effect” for giving that soft glamorous look to your images in Photoshop. Here’s the link to the show (you can watch it right online). Also, don’t forget to set your Tivo to record Photoshop User TV on Fox Business Network–the show airs tonight at 1:30 am. Check our local cable listings (or DirectTV) for the channel in your area.

Lastly, in the latest issue of Shutterbug magazine, they had a link to the motorsports photography of Regis Lefebure. His stuff is just incredible, and if you want to start off your Wednesday right, take two minutes to enjoy some really amazing images. Here’s the link.

That’s it for today, gang. Remember, a strobe unfired, is a strobe without light. I have no idea what that means.

First, thanks to everyone who participated in my “Lighting Gear Week,” last week. There were a lot of great follow-up questions, and I wanted to answer them as they were posted, but I’ve been on critical deadline on a new book, so I couldn’t get a chance to answer them (at least not until now).

So, I put this together to address some of the questions from last week (and I’m paraphrasing some of the questions for clarity), and I hope you find it helpful. (NOTE: All five days are covered here, so for the other day’s questions, make sure you click the MORE link below). Here goes:

Day 1: Budget Off Camera Flash

Q. I’m not the getting the whole “firing the flash through the umbrella on a stand thing?” Can you show us a photo of how that looks?

A. Sure (see the photo below).

Q. Nikon’s SB-600 is a lot cheaper than the SB-800. Can I get away with using it instead?

A. Yes, technically you could get away with it, but honestly, I’ve never met anyone who bought an SB-600 that at one point didn’t say, “I wish I’d gone ahead and bought the SB-800,” so I can’t recommend it with a clear conscience. I’ve also never met a single person who bought the SB-800, who later said “I wish I’d bought the cheaper model with less features.”

Q. Can you guys do some videos on Kelby Training.com using the off camera flashes?

A. Joe McNally, the master of on-location flash, has finished recording a class for us, live on location and I’ve seen some of it, and was there on location for other parts, and it is absolutely brilliant. I’ve never seen anything like it (I’ll do a post when it goes live on the site).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everybody! Hope you had a great weekend; here’s what’s up:

First up, is an update on my Lighting Gear FAQ: I need another day to get it together, and I hope to have it up tomorrow. I hope. Fingers crossed. Etc.

Saw a great tip on Chase Jarvis’ blog, on a deal offered by the Copyright & Trademark office, that lets you officially bulk copyright as many images as you can fit on a DVD for just $45. I’ve been gathering up images all weekend. Here’s the link to how to apply for copyright, courtesy of the ASMP.

We are just a scant two weeks from when I head out to Photoshop World Conference & Expo in Orlando, and I’m hoping you’re going to join me there. If you haven’t signed up for a pre-conference workshop yet, here’s three that I think would be fascinating:

The Canon Live Studio Workshop,with Eddie Tapp and Jack Resnicki. This is basically a workshop on how to set-up and light a fashion shoot from scratch, with a complete studio set-up and live model for the shoot, so you see everything happen right in front of you. Eddie and Jack are just great, and I sat in for an hour or so of the one they did in Boston, and it was packed with great info. There’s only a few seats left for this one.

Digital Photography Primer: Learning to Use Your Digital SLR (with Laurie Excell. Yes, that Laurie Excell!). She did this same class (with a slightly different name) in Vegas last year, and people were literally stopping me in the halls to tell me how much they got out of her class. She knows gear inside and out, and she makes it easy and fun to get the most out of your investment in camera gear. Highly recommended.

Photographic Exhibition Workshop(with living legend, Stephen Johnson). I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a workshop that teaches you the insider techniques on how to prepare your photos for a gallery exhibition. Stephen has a unique insight into this world, and if you ever dreamed of having your work at a gallery showing, this is a workshop that will be worth its weight in gold. Stephen is amazing—you’ll learn a ton.

About Me

Scott is the President of KelbyOne, an online educational community for Photographers, Photoshop and Lightroom users. He's editor and publisher of Photoshop User Magazine, Conference Technical Chair for the Photoshop World Conference & Expo, and the author of a string of bestselling Photoshop, Lightroom, and photography books.